May | 2014 | Balancing Baby and Bonjour

Archive | May, 2014

Easter in Italy (better late than never)

This year for Easter we decided to rent a villa in Aosta, Italy. It was such an amazing time, and one of the greatest aspects of this trip was that it’s only a 2 hour drive; door to door! We set off on Friday morning and were able to enjoy the entire afternoon in the center of Aosta. It’s a very historical town with original Roman ruins still in place.

The weather of Friday was so warm and sunny; high 70s. We walked around the old cobblestone streets (it’s a walking district meaning no cars allowed so the boys could run!), did a little window shopping, stopped by an Italian restaurant for dinner and had some of the most amazing pizza and pasta for dinner and then of course ended our evening with gelato. What a great day it was.

Friday evening the boys shared a bedroom for the first time ever and it was quite comical. Henry was in the bed and Thomas in a pack n play, and boy we didn’t think they would ever stop laughing. Twenty or so minutes went by and all you heard was Thomas say “Henny, Henny…” so I guess Henry must have passed out and Thomas just gave up.

Saturday we woke up to snow. Aosta is situated in the middle of 2 mountain ranges, therefore a storm must have moved it over night. It was quite beautiful and it didn’t stop us from exploring. We did more walking (or running) around the center, grabbed more pizza and pasta for lunch (my favorite of the trip), and then headed home for naps. Before we left we stopped by a store that makes their own fresh pasta and sauces and grabbed a bunch for dinner; because let’s be realistic, eating at home is often times much more enjoyable.

When we arrived back at our villa, there was enough snow to make a snowman (or an Olaf), so we did just that. After T woke up from his nap we drove to an amazing castle called Fenis castle, about 20 minutes away. We returned home in time for some wine and dinner and just stayed up and talked.

Easter morning we woke up and again it was warm and sunny – so crazy!! We went to church at the Cathedral and then walked through the Roman Ruins after lunch…with gelato in hand. Our nanny decided to stay back Sunday morning to catch up on her journal, so we had a family day and it couldn’t have been better.

The Easter bunny came after naps and the rest of the afternoon/evening was spent playing with their new toys/books. We again bought more fresh pasta/wine for dinner and enjoyed eating dinner at the villa.

Monday late morning we left to get back home and to our surprise the Easter bunny had been to our place in Switzerland. We then went for a long walk and called it an early night (for the kids at least!!).

So that’s the abbreviated version of our amazing Easter trip to Italy; and here are the photos!